Thinning the Hoard! (LAoPtS)
Plot The first round of the Kanto Grand Festival has begun as Absol enlightens the stadium with a bright light shimmering from different angles. Solidad and May watch Drew in his first part of the second round. A whirlpool begins forming around Absol, creating a gigantic circle of water circling around Absol. After a few moments, Absol uses its energy from its horn to slice and dissipate the water creating a magnificent shimmering over the entire stadium. Drew bows taking a stance as the crowd applauds his performance. Jessie makes a broadcast, with James, Wobbuffet, and Meowth as her crew, as Brianna watches from her residence with several snapshots of Drew and May placed around the house. Drew manages to walk across Jessie's path as she turns around and attempts to interview him. Drew makes a short comment and heads off into an adjacent room. Wobbuffet manages to turn his board which reflects the light from James's camera and begins scorching Jessie's face. Lilian introduces the elegant Harley and his Octillery. His round begins as Octillery launches a Fire Blast attack towards the ground and propels into the air slamming down into the flames. Octillery begins moving its tentacles causing the flames to move in a counterclockwise motion around his body in the shape of a ring. Meanwhile, Aipom is still evading Ash grasping his hat in her tail and moving it slightly upwards as Ash jumps up and manages to miss. Every time Ash attempts to grasp his hat, Aipom moves it out of his reach. Ash explains to Aipom that he wants to see May but Aipom only lowers her eyelid and sticks her tongue out at Ash. Ash decides that the only way he's going to be able to stop Aipom's troublesome antics is to capture her. Pikachu blasts forward with Agility knocking Aipom from the tree branch while Ash launches a Poké Ball towards Aipom. As the Poké Ball closes in on Aipom, she manages to evade the object and propel it backwards forcing the Poké Ball to collide with Ash hitting him on the head. Solidad's round is finally underway as Slowbro uses its Psychic to rotate around the arena on the tip of its shell. Slowbro manages to come to a single point while still rotating and launches a stream of water overhead creating an effect of a fountain. May watches Solidad's magnificent round on the screen in anticipation of her upcoming round. May is announced to the arena for her second round as Ash manages to arrive just in time with Pikachu. The crowd cheers as May makes her way into the middle of the arena. With a rotation of her wrist, a solitary Poké Ball is released into the stadium exploding with a bright light releasing Munchlax. Munchlax begins collecting energy from the sunlight launching a powerful Solar Beam. As the beam of energy ascends into the air, Munchlax propels into the air clashing with the energy with a Focus Punch. As the two forces clash, the sunlight slowly dissipates into the atmosphere creating a glimmering effect. After her magnificent round, May questions her ability while Ash attempts to cheer her up. Solidad walks upon the ground to give May congratulations. Meanwhile, Drew and Absol have their differences with Absol launching a blinding attack towards Drew just managing to slightly brush against his hair. Ash, May and Solidad catch up to Drew as he recalls Absol back into its confinement of the Poké Ball and walks off into the forest. Harley notices the tense relationship between May and Drew and laughs softly. Fireworks explode into the air as we are brought into the Battle Stage of the Grand Festival. The next round of competitors is released with May, Harley, Solidad and Drew. Brock displays his happiness for Solidad advancing to the Contest Battles. The list of competitors is randomly shuffled pairing Harley vs. May; Drew vs. a young female Trainer; and Solidad vs. a male Trainer. Ash, Brock, and Max are surprised by the sight of May's first opponent being Harley. The countdown timer begins as May calls upon Eevee and Munchlax and Harley calls upon his Wigglytuff and Cacturne. Munchlax and Eevee begin the round blazing forward with a Focus Punch as Wigglytuff inflates to two times its size, dissipating the attack and knocking both Pokémon backwards. Wigglytuff blazes toward both the Pokémon as May anticipates the attack but Wigglytuff propels into the air and Cacturne strikes Munchlax and Eevee. Both Pokémon are knocked backwards and a fifth of May's score is reduced. Cacturne extends its needles and goes in for a final attack as Eevee manages to recover and launches a Shadow Ball while Munchlax uses its Focus Punch to increase the speed of the attack colliding with Cacturne for a direct hit. The smoke clears as Cacturne falls to the ground and is announced as unable to battle. Three fifths of Harley's score is removed. Wigglytuff begins its descent from the air and crashes into the ground with Eevee and Munchlax managing to evade the attack barely. Wigglytuff extends its ears grasping onto both Pokémon's bodies and thrusts them towards the air and begins repeatedly slapping both Pokémon with its ears and finally slamming them to the ground. Munchlax charges another Solar Beam and Eevee launches an additional Shadow Ball. Wigglytuff evades both attacks while additional Shadow Balls and Solar Beams continue their barrage. Two-thirds of May's score is removed reducing her down to a fifth of her original. Eevee and Munchlax launch another attack but miss their target on purpose with both attacks colliding behind Wigglytuff and forcing it uncontrollably towards the ground. Munchlax runs forward and propels off Eevee's tail igniting into the air and striking Wigglytuff down with a Focus Punch. Wigglytuff crashes into the ground and is announced as unable to battle. Harley's score is reduced to zero and May advances to the next round. The round between a young girl and Drew is underway as the young girl's Medicham and Loudred are defeated by Roselia's Petal Dance and Masquerain's Silver Wind, knocking her score to zero advancing Drew to the next round. Solidad manages to defeat her opponent's frozen Girafarig and Zangoose with a devastating Hyper Beam from Slowbro. The ice breaks shattering the young man's dream and advancing Solidad to the next round. The next round begins with May and Drew calling upon their Combusken, Squirtle, Flygon, and Absol. May quickly starts the battle with Squirtle using Rapid Spin. Flygon launches a whirlwind of sand towards Squirtle's direction as Combusken jumps onto Squirtle's shell and jumps while charging up for a Mega Kick. Combusken begins gaining altitude while Absol jumps into the sandstorm and launches a magnificent light blinding Combusken and finally reveals itself from the veil striking down with a devastating Iron Tail. Squirtle launches Bubble, while Combusken goes in with Sky Uppercut. Major events * Ash fails to catch the Aipom that has been following the group. * Aipom develops an interest in Pokémon Contests. * May, Drew, Harley, and Solidad advance to the Contest Battles of the Kanto Grand Festival. * Harley is revealed to own a Wigglytuff. * May defeats Harley and advances to the quarterfinals. * Drew and Solidad defeat their opponents and advance to the quarterfinals. * May starts her battle with Drew in the quarterfinals.